History of the St. Charles Drill Team

“Kick-A-Thon” 

In the summer of 1994 the inception of the “KICK-A-THON” concept was created. Around the kitchen table of Lynn Funk (co-booster president), the original committee of Lynn, Pat Pretz, Julie Wheeler and the coaches Jill Murphy and Kari Batka the STC KICK-A-THON was born. In the beginning, our energy was focused on raising funds for the drill team, “our girls”! They are amazing young ladies, with great talent who came from terrific families of the community of St. Charles. The idea was to pledge money “per kick” as we showed off our talent of high kicking. In an attempt to make it more original, why not add “amateurs” to kick with us. Perhaps teachers, parents, community members and local business individuals could “team” with us. Wouldn’t THAT BE FUNNY!

SO…….we moved forward and each girl (with much help from our boosters, their parents) communicated and “partnered” with someone from the St. Charles community to create our 1st Kick-A-Thon. The event took place in the fall of 1994. It went REALLY WELL! Not only was it FUN but we made much MORE money than we needed. In an effort to give back and serve the community of St. Charles we were looking for a “partner” or an organization to make a contribution to. “What about American Cancer Society”?, said Buck Drach, the coach of the Fighting Saints football team at that time. “We have just started the Tri-City Relay for Life (now known as Kane County Relay) here at the high school.
Cancer has a huge impact on individuals, their loved ones and families”, he said.

Great idea we thought, and a “partnership” was formed. At that time Rose Drach, Buck’s wife, was battling a rare form of sinus cancer. Rose was a special education teacher at St. Charles High School at the time and a truly amazing woman who embodied such a true fighting saints’ spirit. For many of us, our involvement became a personal act of support for her! Rose passed away in the fall of 1999, but her spirit lives on through this event. This story is the original, but the people who have participated in this special event through the years can share their own stories of the amazing positive that can come of a disease that can be so devastating.

In the past 16 years, beginning in 1994, the event grows larger and larger, more meaningful and more organized due to the hard work of the St. Charles Drill Team boosters of both the STC East and STC North High Schools. The “teaming” concept that combines these two friendly rivals has only strengthened this event through the years. Last year we collectively donated over $73,630.00 to the American Cancer Society/Fox Valley Chapter and Living Well Cancer Resource Center. In the past years, the teams also made contributions to other cancer related organizations such as the Treasure Chest, Hope Street Kids and Fox Valley Hospice.

The relationship between the St. Charles community kickers, donators, faculties of the schools, the American Cancer Society and now other related cancer organizations is special. We look forward to organizing the kick-a-thon every year and seeing old friends as well as making new ones. Hope to see you at our 17TH ANNUAL Kick-A-Thon on Friday, October 22nd, 2010 @ STC North High School, North Stars host the Saints in the Cross Town Classic football game.